List of Contributions

en-gee'-911: A Verb not a Noun

Posted By Mark Fletcher 03-10-2016 06:41
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

According to the dictionary, nouns are people, places or things. When people talk about Next Generation Emergency Services or NG911, it is often in the context of a noun, yet it is not a person, and it certainly isn’t a place. You may consider it ‘a thing’, however, I can explicitly tell you that it ...

Additional Data - Changing the Game

Posted By Mark Fletcher 02-13-2016 14:26
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

Changing the Game: While the age-old adage “Don’t fix it if it’s not broken” still holds true, there are times when change is required to move the yardstick ahead. When reviewing 9-1-1 emergency services for commercial enterprise networks, the same holds true. With everything we must understand in ...

Hear No 911 - Speak No 911 - See No 911

Posted By Mark Fletcher 01-31-2016 17:02
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

AN AUDIO VERSION OF THIS BLOG IS HERE ON SOUNDCLOUD Clearly the digits 911 are a brand that is recognized worldwide. For anyone living in the United States, we are taught at a very early age that these numbers can, and will, provide you with assistance in a dire emergency. They are so ingrained ...

A Slice of Pai - An Interview with an FCC Commissioner

Posted By Mark Fletcher 01-23-2016 00:24
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

Without argument, communications at the core of all social interaction today. The agency tasked with regulating interstate and international communication that occurs by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US territories is the Federal Communications ...

You have 135 seconds - Then, I'm telling MOM!

Posted By Mark Fletcher 11-29-2015 16:39
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

An Audio version of this blog is available BY CLICKING HERE On SoundCloud (opens in new window) You have 135 seconds - Then, I'm telling MOM! 135 Seconds. . .That’s not very long, but it is the rule for the estimated 400,000 customers served by Verizon and Frontier Communications in ...

Thanksgiving Thanks to 9-1-1

Posted By Mark Fletcher 11-25-2015 17:02
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

An audio version of this blog is available on SoundCloud, or you can listen here in the embedded player: Every so often I invite a guest blogger to contribute to my Podcast and Avaya CONNECTED Blog series. This week I want to turn the keyboard over to Barry Furey. Barry Furey, ...

911 Awareness Means Tragedy Averted

Posted By Mark Fletcher 10-01-2015 00:56
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

This story just never seems to end. . . It’s said that “lightning never strikes twice.” This is, of course, a statistical assumption and is often disputed by scientists, who note that large attractors of an electrical discharge, such as the Empire State Building in New York City, are actually struck ...

NSI Cell Phones - Is too much enough?

Posted By Mark Fletcher 08-24-2015 12:08
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

An issue today that is causing considerable concern for PSAPs, is the number of hoax and false calls from cellular devices categorized as Non-Service Initiated (NSI) cell phones. An NSI phone is a cell phone that has no active carrier subscription, or service plan. The phone is still completely functional, ...

What does the FCC consider an outage? Where does the money from fines go?

Posted By Mark Fletcher 07-18-2015 14:46
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

What Happened? This past week T-Mobile was slammed with a record $17.5 million fine by the Federal Communications Commission. The fine was related to 2 specific 911 outages, occurring last summer, affecting customers for at least three hours. [http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Busi ...

WiFi enabled voice. Is it safe for 911?

Posted By Mark Fletcher 02-07-2015 09:01
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

As communication services become available on more devices, new forms of technology creep into our lifestyle, and we forget about the simple things, and take them for granted. A great example is access to 9-1-1 emergency services. We are all taught, at a very young age, that when you need help you ...

Who answers Enterprise 911? The answer may shock you!

Posted By Mark Fletcher 12-19-2014 22:45
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

One of the best-known brands globally are the digits 9-1-1. When we hear those numbers, we immediately equate them to mean “emergency.” Even in countries across Europe and the Middle East where the emergency number is 1-1-2, or some other three digit short code, the digits 9-1-1 are well known and recognized ...

WARNING! The following policy can be harmful to your health.

Posted By Mark Fletcher 11-29-2014 08:24
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

911 cant help you, unless you call it. Once again 911 failures are in the news recently; But this time it wasn't 911 that failed . . . Or the MLTS/PBX system . . . Or the routing in the Network . . . This time, allegedly, it was policy that may have caused the untimely death ...

USPS Policy Blamed for 9-1-1 Delay in California Worker Death

Posted By Mark Fletcher 11-22-2014 13:47
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

Once again 9-1-1 failures are in the news this week; But this time it wasn't the 9-1-1 Network that failed; Or was the MLTS/PBX ability to call 9-1-1; Or the programming not being correct; This time, allegedly, it was policy that contributed to the demise of Samuel Macasieb after he was found ...

E9-1-1 & Location Accuracy - The Great Divide

Posted By Mark Fletcher 11-09-2014 15:38
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

With all of the hype around next generation 9-1-1, additional data, video, text messages and countless new ways of reaching emergency dispatchers, the critical element, the location of the emergency, is lost in a sea of arguments. What it really comes down to, is the dispatchable address. Without that, ...

The Perils of Progress - Not all Sunsets are Pretty

Posted By Mark Fletcher 09-15-2014 10:49
Found In Community: 9-1-1 Emerging Tech & Data Transfer Committee Blogs

The Perils of Progress – Not all Sunsets are Pretty It should come as no shock to anyone–especially someone in the communications technology industry–that technology moves forward at a rapid pace and builds upon itself. After all, we’re all familiar with Moore’s Law and Edholm’s Law . Internet ...

Hacking 911 - Is the Genie out of the Bottle?

Posted By Mark Fletcher 08-23-2014 20:26
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

For many years a level of frailty has existed in the nation’s 911 network and its primary level of protection has been “ security through obscurity “. The configuration of the network and details of its inner workings were not documented, at least not publicly, and only a relatively small group of people ...

Why Location Remains a Pesky Problem for Next-Gen 911

Posted By Mark Fletcher 08-16-2014 10:54
Found In Community: 9-1-1 Emerging Tech & Data Transfer Committee Blogs

One of the biggest problems today with 911 is determining the originating endpoint’s location. Obviously, if the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) doesn’t understand where you are, the PSTN can’t route your call to the proper 911 center, or Public Safety Answer Position (PSAP). Even if your call ...

Why 9-1-1 may NEVER work in an MLTS PBX

Posted By Mark Fletcher 07-29-2014 20:34
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

After a brief hiatus the past few weeks, it has given me some time to reflect on the existing problems with emergency calling, and refocus on the root cause of the problem. Any regular subscriber to my blog or podcast is well aware of the tragic incident that happened on December 1, 2013 where the life ...

Before you Cut the Cord - Understand what's Attached

Posted By Mark Fletcher 06-08-2014 18:40
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

Before you cut the cord, you better understand what’s attached. Technologists and legislators in Washington D.C. are currently debating a number of hot-button topics, as they face challenges around upgrading America’s 911 infrastructure. Those topics include the pending sunset of the public switched ...

911 Apps - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Posted By Mark Fletcher 05-24-2014 17:30
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

The following is a transcript of my interview with @ToddPiett , who is the Chief Product Officer at Rave Mobile Safety . We discussed the App, what it is, what it isn't and where it should play in the 9-1-1 center. The audio version of this Podcast is available for download or listening ...

9-1-1: Still strong after 46 years!

Posted By Mark Fletcher 02-16-2014 14:00
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

MLTS/Hotel/PBX E911 Services - My Open Letter to FCC Chairman Wheeler

Posted By Mark Fletcher 01-08-2014 14:05
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

UPDATE: January 3, 2014 A very responsive FCC has heard the pleas behind this incident, and I will be meeting with Commissioner Ajit Pai on Friday January 10th in Washington to discuss this important issue. I am very pleased to see the continued responsiveness the FCC has demonstrated under ...

NSFW? The Gooey side of E911

Posted By Mark Fletcher 09-16-2013 20:38
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

This Avaya CONNECTED Blog is also available as an MP3 Audio File There is a new breed of architect that is becoming more and more popular in the application world. Conceptually, they understand networking, data, and even voice applications. Although their work fosters innovation at the ...

911 Answer Delays - Ready, Set, NO!

Posted By Mark Fletcher 09-16-2013 20:36
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

This Avaya CONNECTED Blog is also available as an MP3 Audio File Nobody likes to wait for anything, especially for a 911 call taker during an emergency, and 911 Center Public Safety Answer Points (PSAP) Average Call Answer Times have been under scrutiny lately in several states. But before ...

Government Thought Leadership with Bill Schrier

Posted By Mark Fletcher 09-16-2013 20:34
Found In Contact: Mark Fletcher's Blog

This Avaya CONNECTED Blog is also available as an MP3 Audio File While attending the 79th Annual APCO Expo and Conference in Annaheim, California, I had the opportunity to sit down with industry thought leader, Bill Schrier , ( @BillSchrier )who is now with the Office of the CIO for the ...

Will Enterprise Voice Users also "Cut the Cord"?

Posted By Mark Fletcher 08-20-2012 15:32
Found In Community: Communications Open Forum Blogs

Based on population in both the US and Europe, many areas have exceeded, or are about to exceed, 100% penetration of mobile devices. There are nearly 300,000,000 mobile phones deployed today, and many have "cut the cord" . With E9-1-1 revenue originating from monthly landline charges, as more individuals ...

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